110 in the Shade
110 in the Shade is a stage musical based on the play The Rain Maker by N. Richard Nash. Cast *Inga Swenson - Lizzie Curry *Robert Horton - Bill Starbuck *Stephen Douglass - File *Will Geer - H.C. Curry *Steve Roland - Noah Curry *Scooter Teague - Jimmy Curry *Lesley Ann Warren - Snookie Updegraff Plot It's the Fourth of July in 1936, in the small town of Three Point in the Southwestern U.S., where a blistering heat wave has the local sheriff, File, and the other townsfolk forever eyeing the sky. Elsewhere in town, on the ranch of widower H.C. Curry, the air is also charged with anticipation, due to the imminent arrival of H.C.'s daughter, who's been off visiting friends of the family (pseudo-relatives "Uncle" Ned and "Aunt" Marabelle and their sons) in Sweetwater. The trip was designed to find Lizzie a husband, but to no avail: as at home, her intelligence, sharp wit, and insecurities proved her undoing. H.C. and his sons, Jim and Noah, hatch a plan to invite Sheriff File to the annual picnic lunch, where Lizzie can impress him with her prettiest party dress and tastiest picnic basket. Reluctant at first, but then allowing herself to dream just a bit, Lizzie agrees. Sheriff File, unfortunately, proves immune to every enticement the Curry boys offer. His mind is more on "some sort of outlaw" heading into town, a fellow named Tornado Johnson; besides he knows a fix-up when he sees one, and as he puts it, "I can mend my own shirts." Jim and Noah depart, but H.C. stays behind to tell File he knows the lie File's been living: that File's not a widower, as he claims to be—that his wife ran out on him. H.C. sees a man who's lonely and shut off, one who needs "a lot more mendin' than shirts," but File grows angry and defensive, and H.C. leaves him be. As the ladies at the picnic grounds await the arrival of "The Hungry Men", File is noticeably not among them, and although her father and brothers do their best to console her, Lizzie feels the sting of File's rejection. Jim suggests she'd have more luck if she flirted more—played down her intelligence and told men what they wanted to hear: like Lily Ann Beasley, who has all the men in town weak in the knees. But Lizzie is resolute in her vision of a husband: "I want him to stand up straight—and I want to be able to stand up straight to him!" Suddenly, something sounds like a dry, rattling crack of summer thunder, and with it appears a handsome stranger who introduces himself as "Starbuck—Rainmaker." His bold promises include the town into a revivalist frenzy, and H.C. plunks down a hundred dollars for the promise of rain within twenty-four hours. But Lizzie sees through Starbuck's pretenses, and he instantly sees through hers. His accusations touch a nerve, and as he exits, a childhood song runs through her head that darkens her mood further. Feeling a need to "get out of me for a while," she imagines a different sort of Lizzie Curry. File appears unexpectedly at the picnic grounds and, still insistent that he has a right to be alone, nonetheless reaches out to Lizzie, coming clean about his past and, almost despite himself, revealing old wounds. But as they start to open up to each other, Lizzie's candid comments—and her feeble attempts to retract them—drive File away in a fury. Her family appears instantly to grill her, and Noah lashes out at her father's efforts to console her, insisting she accept the reality that she's going to end up alone. Lizzie, with terror in her heart, faces her future. As twilight approaches, lovers still haunt the picnic grounds. Starbuck is there as well, alone and quiet, doing a bit of soul-searching. The others merely admire the majesty of the night sky. For Lizzie, though, twilight means putting an end to her daydreams. And yet, still in search of something she can't quite define, she finds herself drawn to Starbuck's camp. Sensing her discontent, he encourages her to dream again—this time far beyond her small-town horizons. Instinctively defensive, as before, Lizzie counters that her dreams are just a different kind, but feeling that she'll never get what she wants, she breaks down. Starbuck grabs her, encouraging her to see herself through her own eyes, and not as she fears others view her; he takes the pins out of her hair and insists she recognize her own beauty. The lights fade as they begin to make love. Back at the picnic area, Jim is boasting of his own Fourth of July adventures when File arrives to tell the Curry clan that he's on the lookout for Tornado Johnson—aka rainmaker Starbuck. He understands that H.C. gave him a hundred dollars for the promise of rain, but H.C., well aware that Lizzie is with Starbuck, refuses to reveal his whereabouts. Noah is shocked that his father is willing to leave Lizzie alone with a conman, but H.C. understands his daughter's needs, "even if it's only one minute—with a man talkin' quiet and his hand touchin' her face." And back at Starbuck's tent, that's precisely what's happening, as Starbuck shares a difficult secret: "I never made rain in my life! Not a single raindrop!" Lizzie counsels him that "it's not good to live in your dreams," but he notes that it's not good to live outside of them, either. She concluded that best way to live is "somewhere between the two". As the Curry family awaits Lizzie's arrival, the mood is silent and tense. But she appears joyous and transformed ("I've got a new beau!"), and when File arrives to arrest Starbuck, the entire Curry clan defends him. Starbuck implores Lizzie to join him in his travels, and File—suddenly aware of what he needs and what he might lose—steps forward to plead his own case. Lizzie, with a new sense of her own worth, makes her decision. As Starbuck exits for parts unknown, a low rumble of thunder ushers in a sudden cloudburst, less than twenty-four hours of his arrival. And as the townspeople revel at the heavy downpour, Lizzie and File rejoice in the promise of hope and renewal that rainfall brings. Musical numbers ;Act I *"Another Hot Day" - File and Townspeople *"Lizzie's Coming Home" - H.C. Curry, Noah Curry, and Jimmy Curry *"Love, Don't Turn Away" - Lizzie Curry *"Poker Polka" - File, H.C. Curry, Noah Curry, and Jimmy Curry *"The Hungry Men" - Lizzie Curry and Townspeople *"The Rain Song" - Bill Starbuck and Townspeople *"You're Not Foolin' Me" - Bill Starbuck and Lizzie Curry *"Raunchy" - Lizzie Curry *"A Man and a Woman" - File and Lizzie Curry *"Old Maid" - Lizzie Curry ;Act II *"Evenin' Star" (added for the 2007 revival) - Bill Starbuck *"Everything Beautiful Happens at Night" - Lizzie Curry and Townspeople *"Melisande" - Bill Starbuck *"Simple Little Things" - Lizzie Curry *"Little Red Hat" - Snookie and Jimmy Curry *"Is It Really Me?" - Lizzie Curry *"Wonderful Music" - Bill Starbuck, File, and Lizzie Curry *"The Rain Song" (Reprise) - Townspeople Category:Stage musicals